Students present research at physical therapy conference

Dallas physical therapy students have been flexing their research muscles all year and are ready to showcase their work in an upcoming conference.

Wednesday, Nov. 28, TWU Dallas is hosting the 15th annual Physical Therapy Research Conference. The conference will be held from 3:30 to 8 p.m. and offers physical therapy students a chance to present research to clinicians and the public. This year’s conference topic will be “Advancing Psychologically-Informed PT through Optimization of Rehabilitation Strategies,” and presentations will focus on advancements within this field of research.

Presentations will include the work of both entry-level PT students and recent Ph.D. graduates. All 50 third-year DPT students will also present at the conference this year in groups of two to four, each with a faculty mentor. Students will present posters or oral platform presentations to showcase the research they have been conducting.

Dr. Elaine Jackson, physical therapist and research coordinator for the TWU Dallas School of Physical Therapy, says the event is an excellent opportunity for the university and community physical therapy worlds to connect.

“We invite clinicians in the area that are practicing physical therapists, and the event is free of charge to them,” Jackson said. “It’s sort of payback, if you will, because they work with our entry-level students in providing them with clinical experiences. This is an opportunity to give back to the community…that allows them to see the research that’s going on at TWU in physical therapy.”

The 2018 keynote speaker is Dr. Rogelio Coronado, PT. Coronado is an assistant professor in the Department of Orthopedic Surgery and Rehabilitation at Vanderbilt University, having received his Ph.D. in Rehabilitation Services from the University of Florida in 2014.

Jackson is expecting a potential upswing in the number of attendees for the 2018 conference.

“This year we have online registration, so we may actually have more, but generally [we have] between 50 and 75 clinicians,” Jackson said. “The faculty typically are there, and then a lot of our Ph.D. students who are currently working on their degrees usually attend as well. We typically have about 175 in the audience.”

The event will offer free food and parking to attendees, and clinicians who attend the full presentation will receive four Continuing Competence Units.